Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
 
Patricia Drake Jul 2013
From accounts of the massacre
and the thoughts behind
written by the killer beforehand
and which I read last night
I have come to the shore today
to find balance
in watching life on the beach
the sky never this blue
and in listening
to my children laughing
to block the echoes
of what I have read;

How he had sought out the island
with the most passionate of youths
how he had gleefully shot them dead
believing that their views were wrong
how he hated them
and the people they refused to hate
and how they had to die
like I would
like my children would
if he had had his way.

I look up
the sky is still blue
and all I hear
is the sound of my girls
laughing
Patricia Drake Jul 2013
With everyone's attention fixed
on the bomb in town
killing eight important men
and women
the island was calm
like a safe haven
getting safer
for the passionate youth
assembly
as a policeman arrived
by boat

But he did not talk much
did not answer questions much
on the boat there
and as they arrived
he shot those who asked
and the coast was clear

Like in a violent game
there were shouts and screams
and he cheered
with every experience ****
and as exploding bullets tore
bodies
and sent frightened fugitives
to their deaths on the cliffs
or in the cold water
he laughed
and he killed more
than just the spirits
of 69 youths
that day
In memory of the horrible massacre at the Norwegian political youth camp on Utøya two years ago, where 69 people were slaughtered.
Patricia Drake Jul 2013
A live object
Sentenced to die
The artwork itself
Makes a request
For help with an appeal
Which
If successful
could change
The outcome
Altogether

If not
The object will die
By the system
And by the artist
Become food
For goldfish
To complete
The work of art
Patricia Drake Jul 2013
He used to be
used to have a name
a family
but he killed them
shot them dead

To the system
he is a number now
an ex human
excluded
exiled
in his own country
and sentenced
to extermination
someday

Until then
is silence
forever
days upon days
of gradual removal
from their consciousness
and from life
outside

But now we know
and we will not forget
Gene Hathorn
or his story
we will fight
the dehumanising system
we will tell his story
and we will make people
think
and act
like human beings
Another reaction to a powerful reality based work of art by Marco Evaristti. The Evaristti piece is called "Five to Twelve" and is telling the story about Gene Hathorn - a Death Row prisoner. For more information about the Evaristti installation and its context: http://www.anniedorsen.com/useruploads/files/futurity_of_(_democracy_in_america).pdf
Patricia Drake Jul 2013
Carassius auratius auratius
exhibited
live
in live blenders
for our sake

Would you
out of curiosity
or simply
if you had the chance
push the button
and destroy
lesser life?
Patricia Drake Jul 2013
Lucky me
I got a voucher
In my pocket
to cash in anytime
I need
$50,000
more than my kidney

Lucky me
I get to choose

Surgery
I'd like to post "Voucher" with this short explanation.
I went to see an exhibition of Marco Evaristti at the Trapholt Museum of Contemporary Art the other day. It made such a powerful impression on me that I had to write something.
One of his works was a collection of artefacts from a surgery room, a video showing a kidney removal procedure, and information posters about how ***** trafficking (often involving theft and subsequent sale) is common in the 3rd world, where the "donor" seldom gets any compensation.
As part of the artwork, the artist had made vouchers for the public to use if they wanted to donate their kidneys and receive $50,000 in compensation. The reason for the huge illegal ***** trafficking is a general shortage of healthy organs for urgent transplants everywhere.
Patricia Drake Jul 2013
They enter the bus
Conversing
About busses
Like this one
And other passengers
Taking up space
Designated for them
They do not address us
But clearly
They are talking about
Us
Like they sit in the lobby
In cheap chartered hotels
Taking up space
Conversing
About other guests
Being loud
Or obnoxious
They do not address us
Or ask who we are
But clearly
They assume
And they are talking
About us
Next page